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Reporters without borders (press release), France
May 5 2008
Freedom of expression still in danger in Turkey despite article 301 reform
Amendments to a law punishing insults to Turkish identity which the
Turkish parliament adopted on 30 April are `cosmetic and
insufficient,' Reporters Without Borders said today. Dozens of writers
and journalists have been convicted under the law, article 301 of the
criminal code, since its introduction in 2005.
`It is wrong to regard this reform as good news,' the press freedom
organisation said. `It is true the penalties have been reduced, but
insults to Turkish identity has simply been replaced by insults to the
Turkish nation, leaving judges a lot of leeway to prosecute anyone who
publicly broaches sensitive issues such as the Armenian genocide or
the Kurdish issue.'
Reporters Without Borders added: `Furthermore, this reform concerns
only article 301. Any real improvement in freedom of expression in
Turkey would have to include a thorough overhaul of all the laws and
regulations that restrict it. The limited nature of this reform
highlights the size of the problem that free speech poses to the
Turkish authorities.'
The national assembly approved the amendments to article 301 after a
stormy debate on 30 April by 250 votes to 65. Article 301, which took
effect in May 2005 replacing article 109 of the old criminal code,
made attacks on `Turkish identity' punishable by up to three years in
prison and it was used to prosecute several thousand people.
According to justice minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, 1,189 people were
taken before a court in the first quarter of 2007 alone for article
301 violations. Nobel prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk and
Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink, who was murdered by
ultranationalists in Istanbul on 19 January 2007, were among those
prosecuted under the article.
The reform replaces attacks on `Turkishness' by attacks on the
`Turkish nation' and reduces the maximum prison sentence from three
years to two. And most trials under article 301 will henceforth take
place before magistrate courts instead of criminal courts. Article 301
proceedings currently under way will be dropped, and the cases will be
reexamined in the light of the new provisions.
Article 301 is just one element of the legislative arsenal restricting
free expression in Turkey. Other laws punish attacks on fundamental
national interests (article 305), inciting hatred, hostility or
humiliation (article 216), attacking the memory of the Turkish
republic's founder, Atatürk (law 5816 of 25 July 1951) and
discouraging the public from doing military service (article 318). In
many cases, the penalties increase by a half when the media are used
to break the law.
May 5 2008
Freedom of expression still in danger in Turkey despite article 301 reform
Amendments to a law punishing insults to Turkish identity which the
Turkish parliament adopted on 30 April are `cosmetic and
insufficient,' Reporters Without Borders said today. Dozens of writers
and journalists have been convicted under the law, article 301 of the
criminal code, since its introduction in 2005.
`It is wrong to regard this reform as good news,' the press freedom
organisation said. `It is true the penalties have been reduced, but
insults to Turkish identity has simply been replaced by insults to the
Turkish nation, leaving judges a lot of leeway to prosecute anyone who
publicly broaches sensitive issues such as the Armenian genocide or
the Kurdish issue.'
Reporters Without Borders added: `Furthermore, this reform concerns
only article 301. Any real improvement in freedom of expression in
Turkey would have to include a thorough overhaul of all the laws and
regulations that restrict it. The limited nature of this reform
highlights the size of the problem that free speech poses to the
Turkish authorities.'
The national assembly approved the amendments to article 301 after a
stormy debate on 30 April by 250 votes to 65. Article 301, which took
effect in May 2005 replacing article 109 of the old criminal code,
made attacks on `Turkish identity' punishable by up to three years in
prison and it was used to prosecute several thousand people.
According to justice minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, 1,189 people were
taken before a court in the first quarter of 2007 alone for article
301 violations. Nobel prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk and
Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink, who was murdered by
ultranationalists in Istanbul on 19 January 2007, were among those
prosecuted under the article.
The reform replaces attacks on `Turkishness' by attacks on the
`Turkish nation' and reduces the maximum prison sentence from three
years to two. And most trials under article 301 will henceforth take
place before magistrate courts instead of criminal courts. Article 301
proceedings currently under way will be dropped, and the cases will be
reexamined in the light of the new provisions.
Article 301 is just one element of the legislative arsenal restricting
free expression in Turkey. Other laws punish attacks on fundamental
national interests (article 305), inciting hatred, hostility or
humiliation (article 216), attacking the memory of the Turkish
republic's founder, Atatürk (law 5816 of 25 July 1951) and
discouraging the public from doing military service (article 318). In
many cases, the penalties increase by a half when the media are used
to break the law.